james_camerons_avatarfandomcom-20200222-history
Talk:Na'vi
The bones of the Na'vi are brittle yet strong? Can anyone shed some light on the issue? --IWantheUltimateChange 13:22, December 24, 2009 (UTC) ::Quaritch says that the Na'vi have a naturally occurring carbon fiber in their bones, and that they are very hard to kill. One might infer that carbon fiber is brittle yet strong, however I don't know if that is true. Also since it is not the only composition of their bones, I don't believe we can assume anything. Kxetse a-ean 07:38, December 27, 2009 (UTC) ::Note that tennis rackets, racquetball rackets, golf clubs and, I believe, bicycle, car and aircraft chassis all incorporate carbon fiber in some instances. Composite materials, in practice, are designed to increase the strength and capability of the item in question by using combinations of materials that are more than the sum of their parts. I don't think anyone who's taken a swing with a carbon-fiber club would argue that it's a particularly brittle piece of technology. I would argue that, unless the 'brittle' statement comes from a canon source and is cited, that it's in error. --NivikLiriak 03:48, December 31, 2009 (UTC) Mating Section: The current final paragraph goes into some detail about the connection of the queues and has a lot of information that is not provided by either the movie Avatar or the scriptment by James Cameron, thus I consider it to be speculative in nature and added the citation tag. Kxetse a-ean 07:38, December 27, 2009 (UTC) The user 72.198.80.100 has removed the citation tag from the last paragraph, without providing any source information. Please provide source information: I believe this section to be speculative and therefore should not appear on the Wiki. Kxetse a-ean 02:41, December 29, 2009 (UTC) The mating section contains a massive run-on sentence causing several readings to make a grasp at the meaning. The passage should be cleaned up to more clearly convey the meaning. The offending sentence is: "Because of the unpredictability of the bond's depth in the end, which affects the amount of pleasure the couple feel, and tradition stating that It cannot be mentioned, either before or after mating, so as to keep the rare offender from simply constantly attempting to engage in Tsahaylu with one who is not their match, which can be fatal after the first mating, because of the stress inflicted emotionally and physically on a Na'vi sustaining more than one bond." :That's why I moved it down to the "commentary" section. In fact it ought to be removed entirely because, as far as I am concerned, it is fan-fiction. Kxetse a-ean 02:44, January 1, 2010 (UTC) Description Section: The description of the Na'vi has some confusing and conflicting information, as well as what appears to be speculative information. For example: "...They are, however, much larger and typically stronger than humans. ... and, pound for pound, they are probably weaker than humans." I couldn't find a cleanup template or category. Kxetse a-ean 18:19, December 27, 2009 (UTC) :Additional nitpicks: ::• Carbon fiber reinforcement is a strength/weight compromise. ¶2 postulates that Na'vi bones are "extremely rigid and hard to bend but easily crack under focused pressure." I think this is speculative, since it is never really explained. The information is true of what we know about carbon fiber, but there may be other factors of Na'vi physiology that affect or counteract these properties. ::• Citations are needed for the portions that claim Na'vi can communicate via bioluminescence. ::• According to the scriptment, the Na'vi have "no hair whatsoever, though there is what looks like a black pony tail, or queue, originating in the back of the head and hanging down almost to the waist." This suggests that the last sentence of ¶5 is erroneous. :Kxetse a-ean 18:34, December 27, 2009 (UTC) :::See my above statement about carbon-fiber and its use in modern composite materials. Carbon fiber is almost certainly only one component of the Na'vi's bone composition and its role in contemporary composites is similar to that of rebar in concrete http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fiber_reinforced_polymer#Civil_engineering_applications, permitting a compressively strong but elastically weak material (such as concrete) to gain some of the flexibility and bendability of an elastically strong but compressively weak material (such as rope). This produces a material that outperforms both the component materials; a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. :::In essence, due to evolutionary process and the nature of composite materials, I doubt the inclusion of carbon fiber to the bone structure of the Na'vi has anything but positive effect on the integrity of the bone as a whole, compared to a similar bone without the inclusion of those fibers. From an artistic point of view, I suspect that the inclusion of carbon fiber was supposed to help enhance the perception of the movie-viewer that the Na'vi are BAMFs; bigger, stronger, and more capable of taking punishment than human beings. --NivikLiriak 03:58, December 31, 2009 (UTC) ::::I agree with your statements. My only regret, truly, is that the RDA carried sufficient caliber weapons (I assume) that rendered Quaritch's statements about the Na'vi being "very hard to kill" somewhat moot. Kxetse a-ean 04:30, December 31, 2009 (UTC) :::::Alas, typically something that must move around, find a way to feed itself, and does so by relying on intellect instead of brute strength or toughness (IE: Most humanoids) typically doesn't display 'resistance to 7.62 millimeter diameter pieces of high-velocity metal' as a particularly stunning evolutionary trait. Not, at least, compared to more practical things, like out-climbing predators. :::::Edit: Also note that a large-scale battle lends the RDA certain advantages they typically don't enjoy in small-scale scouting operations. The number of eyes and ears available to a platoon or company-level force of security personnel is much higher than that provided by that at the fire-team level. Also, there's a certain advantage to knowing that your presence is known and expected. You're not at all surprised when the stealth you're not trying to use fails, as opposed to a small group of soldiers that typically tries to be quiet and stealthy, and fails miserably anyway. The element of surprise that the Na'vi typically enjoy was not in effect (at least, not as overwhelmingly in effect) in the final battle. --NivikLiriak 04:37, December 31, 2009 (UTC) Background Section: The Na'vi page, sadly, is becoming rife with fan-fiction sounding material. I have all of the books thus far published for Avatar as well as a copy of the original scriptment. Nowhere do these materials go into the detail found being contributed by users of this wiki. For example, "If they (the Na'vi) become too numerous, Eywa will devise a way to limit their numbers before they cause an ecological imbalance." Where, exactly, is that from? Or this line: "...plus a curious absence of pesky insects and harmful microorganisms." I'd like sources for these "facts." Otherwise they are utter nonsense and belong elsewhere. Frankly I am tired of trying to help curtail the introduction of editorial material that cannot be found in any of the official sources. Kxetse a-ean 21:28, December 29, 2009 (UTC) :Could you please take away all the information with no source? I really don't have the books about the Na'vis, so you should know more. Then I can block the page so only registered contributors will be able to edit. --[[User:Matias_arana_10|'Shadow Na'vi']] Talk 21:32, December 29, 2009 (UTC) Rework I have reworked the entire page, moving sourced information to the top into various sections with citations where necessary when not completely evident from the film. I have preserved everyone's speculative works in a section entitled "Commentary and Additional Info" though I think this should be migrated elsewhere. Hopefully everyone likes the change. Kxetse a-ean 04:43, December 30, 2009 (UTC) :Yes, thanks. If any of the info from below is confirmed, we'll pass it to the "real" article. --[[User:Matias_arana_10|'Shadow Na'vi']] Talk 00:51, December 31, 2009 (UTC)